Thomasina Elliot has hired Miss Silver to locate Anna Ball. Anna had been working as a companion for a Mrs. Dugdale, a demanding invalid who wasn’t Anna’s cup of tea. Anna took another job as a governess for the Craddocks, but then shortly leaves them. Three children, whose parents don’t believe in supervising their children, were a bit too much to handle. In both instances, Anna leaves no forwarding address or continues her correspondence with Thomasina.

Miss Silver locates Anna’s last employer and takes the governess position with the Craddocks. Not difficult, as Miss Silver had been a governess for a number of years prior to becoming a detective.

Miss Silver meets the various residents of the ‘colony’ and is able to get an idea of Anna and her life there. Miss silver also finds things are not as presented by the residents. All have secrets to hide. Secrets Miss Silver discovers as she searches for clues to the disappearance of Anna Ball. ( )

“You couldn’t let murderers go free, but when you knew people they weren’t just murderers, they were people you knew.”


This stellar Miss Silver mystery from the early ’50s is full of atmosphere, and easily ranks in the top ten among her mysteries featuring the unobtrusive, Tennyson quoting, and ever knitting Miss Silver. As always, there is a romance that plays out against the mystery. When you read a slew of Miss Silvers in a row, you can tell she had a sort of free-floating formula, but her characters were always different, as were the crimes and the romantic angle. Soon after you begin reading, it’s easy to forget about the previous one, so immersed are we in these strange new circumstances, so artfully laid out before us by one of the great crime writers of the Golden Age, Patricia Wentworth.

Wentworth herself had warmth, and more than a little psychological understanding, and that always comes across in her Miss Silver stories. For example, examine this little gem from late in the narrative:

“…it is, and always has been, quite impossible to account for the violent attraction which some criminals appear to exercise. The victims are as a rule lonely women who have failed to make other ties. It is a tragic spectacle, and one which would be avoided if these people would realize that their craving for the affection defeats its own ends. If they were willing to give instead of merely wishing to receive, they would form genuine bonds of friendship and not fall a prey to the first adventurer who plays upon their vanity.” — Miss Silver

Lovely Thomasina Elliot, a native Scott whose eyes are wonderfully described by Wentworth, is worried enough about her old friend Anna Ball to place an advertisement in the Agony Column. Miss Silver will notice it, because of the usual name, and because of the ad itself:

“Anna, where are you? Do you please write. Thomasina.”

It seems that Anna Ball has left her job one dark afternoon, suitcase in hand, and never returned. More importantly, she has not written to Thomasina, practically her only friend. Peter Brandon, who calls Thomasina, Tamsin, hardly understands why she wants to pursue Anna Ball’s disappearance on such flimsy pretense, considering how much trouble Anna can be. Their back and forth of course, forms the budding romantic element always present in any Miss Silver mystery.

But it is Miss Silver’s old friend Inspector Frank Abbott who brings the case to Miss Silver. Though he can’t point to any evidence of foul play, he has a feeling deep down that something has happened. Perhaps because something has happened before in the village where Deepe House sits, as if waiting for something else to happen. It was Anna’s last known sighting, as she was seen leaving the village in a red hat. But there’s that woman who drowned eighteen months earlier…

Frank doesn’t want Miss Silver to insert herself at Deepe House, but that’s exactly what she does, discovering much more than she bargained for. How it ties in to the impressionable young girl, Jennifer, some bank robberies, and an old house in the woods associated with disturbing stories, leads to an atmospheric ending with Thomasina in great danger, and Miss Silver hearing shots ring out in the night. Miss Silver, however, may not know enough to prevent someone from the gallows, on the word of someone twisted by hatred and envy in this involving story.

There is a satisfying wrap-up to both the mystery and the romance that will leave a smile on the reader’s face. Dora Amy Elles (Patricia Wentworth) was born in India, during the time of the Raj. Tragically widowed young, but fortunate enough to find love and happiness again, she imbued her Miss Silver mysteries with charming romance, and understanding. Miss Silver’s unobtrusiveness has perhaps worked against her as the decades have passed, but there is a reason that for well over a decade, Wentworth rivaled Christie, Sayers, Allingham and the lot in popularity.

Anna, Where Are You? is a classic village mystery with good characters, a touch of romance, and an atmospheric and exciting conclusion. It is, in fact, one of Patricia Wentworth's most stellar Miss Silver entries, and well worth checking out. ( )

Synopsis: A none too likable woman has gone missing and her only 'friend' takes it upon herself to look for her. The trail leads to a country house with wings of artists. Miss Silver is hired to find the missing woman. In the meantime, there are a string of bank robberies in which the thieves kill people in the bank; the robbers are a man and a woman. And more star-crossed lovers...
Review: It was pretty obvious that the female doing the bank robberies was the missing woman. Everything turned out well in the end. ( )